The Insurance Journal is reporting today that Florida’s Fourth District Court of Appeals has ruled against a couple from Maine who were seeking an $11 million settlement from Mitsubishi Motors after the 2004 death of their son.

The appeals court, in a 2-1 ruling, overturned the original 2008 jury verdict explaining that Palm Beach County Circuit Judge Elizabeth Maass was in error when she refused to allow the automaker to show to jurors the charts, photos and videos of the results of tests it conducted which disputed the claim that a faulty seat belt caused the death of 25-year-old Scott Laliberte.

While experts appearing on behalf of Mitsubishi were allowed to tell the jury that the seat belt was not a factor i the rollover accident on I-95 in Brevard County, without visual aids, the appeals judges said, the testimony was “barren and unsubstantiated.”

Appeals Court Judge Cory Ciklin disagreed with his colleagues, Judges Dorian Damoorgian and Melanie May, saying that circuit judges are routinely forced to make such decisions, and that second-guessing them is wrong.

He wrote, “The trial court sensitively balanced the relevance of Mitsubishi’s demonstrative aids against the danger of unfair prejudice and confusion and made the right calls — or at least made the calls that were best performed by the person wearing the boots on the ground.”

Julie Littky-Rubin, the West Palm Beach attorney who represented Laliberte’s parents, Donna and Peter, said she will ask all twelve of the appeals judges to re-consider the case. Based on Ciklin’s dissenting opinion, she believes she has a good chance of convincing the full court to overturn the new decision.

Wendy Lumish, who represented Mitsubishi, said she was pleased by the court ruling.